It shouldn’t be this hard, but it’s somewhat difficult to vouch for the Baltimore Ravens as the only team that can beat the Kansas City Chiefs when the AFC playoffs start in January.
That’s not a slight on the Ravens (5–2), because they are the only team that can hang with the 6–0 Chiefs in the AFC. It’s not the Buffalo Bills or the Houston Texans. And please leave the conversation if you still believe the New York Jets or the Cincinnati Bengals will turn it around this season.
There’s currently only one team in the AFC with a realistic shot at beating the Chiefs in the postseason. And that’s the Ravens because of what they’ve shown during their five-game winning streak. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers would probably also vouch for the Ravens after the 41–31 whooping they got from Lamar Jackson on Monday night. Don’t let the final score deceive you. This one was over midway through the third quarter.
But there’s a difference between having a shot and actually beating Patrick Mahomes in a playoff game.
Again, it’s difficult to vouch for the Ravens because we’ve seen the movie before. The Ravens already lost to the Chiefs in the season opener. Baltimore had an impressive scripted opening touchdown drive to show off new running back Derrick Henry before the Chiefs’ stifling defense contained the Ravens’ offense for most of the game.
Jackson did almost pull off a late rally in the 27–20 loss on Sept. 5—tight end Isaiah Likely was a toe away from recording the game-tying touchdown catch. But the Week 1 loss was concerning because Jackson didn’t have much help at Arrowhead Stadium. Henry was supposed to be the missing piece, not doing the heavy lifting for a team lacking depth. That approach didn’t get him far during eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
Even when the Ravens were up 20–10 in the third quarter on Monday, there wasn’t enough evidence to confidently say they can knock off the Chiefs if they meet again in the postseason. But that quickly changed with how Baltimore broke the game wide open, starting with Jackson’s 49-yard touchdown dime to Rashod Bateman that left coach John Harbaugh amazed on the sideline.
Jackson isn’t new to making otherworldly plays and thrusting himself into MVP conversations, which he did with the five touchdowns passes in Tampa Bay. Jackson and Jared Goff appear to be the frontrunners for MVP, something the Ravens should care very little about with Jackson having two career MVPs and zero Super Bowl appearances.
But I’ll stop stalling. These Ravens are different from the team that put up last year’s playoff dud against the Chiefs and much improved since the Week 1 loss in Kansas City. Finally, the Ravens didn’t need Henry or Jackson to carry the team. Yes, both were very good, but what transpired Monday night was a complete, full-team destruction of the Buccaneers, one of the better teams in the NFC before they ran into the Ravens. The Buccaneers might be licking their wounds for many weeks to come, especially with the injuries to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
Henry didn’t make an impact until he galloped for an 81-yard run late in the third quarter before Jackson found Mark Andrews in the end zone for a 34–10 advantage. Henry played closer, Andrews is a reliable pass catcher again and Bateman has developed into a consistent playmaker. The Ravens do have a concern with Zay Flowers’s ankle injury, but the depth lifted the offense without the No. 1 wide receiver on the field. Again, offensive depth wasn’t yet established in Week 1.
The Ravens might not have the best offense in the league—that title probably belongs to the Detroit Lions—but they have found their offensive identity and perhaps the recipe for hanging points on the Chiefs’ defense, which continues to get better under coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. These aren’t the same teams that kicked off the season. The Chiefs’ offense has struggled throughout the season, partly because of injuries to Rashee Rice, Marquise Brown and Isiah Pacheco.
But Mahomes has made it work with a cast of veteran returnees, including Juju Smith-Schuster and Kareem Hunt. And it certainly helps that the defense is shutting down offenses on a weekly basis, allowing Mahomes to shake off slow starts.
The Chiefs’ current recipe for winning games might not work against the high-scoring Ravens offense. Yes, we’ve seen the Chiefs vs. Ravens movie before. But just like how many people pay to watch 10 movies of the Fast and Furious franchise, many will be rooting to see Jackson and Henry get another crack at Spagnuolo’s defense come January, especially after what they did Monday night.
It was the type of performance that might force the Chiefs to make a notable trade for a wide receiver. The Ravens have joined the Chiefs’ once lonely tier of elite AFC teams.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Ravens’ Offense Has Evolved Enough to Beat the Chiefs in the Playoffs.
